The Rhode Island State Senate overwhelmingly passed a three-year moratorium on the opening of new charter schools. The vote was 30-6, with only one Democrat in opposition. Under the leadership of Governor Gina Raimondo, who is about to become President Biden’s Commerce Secretary, the state has welcomed charter operators (Raimondo was a hedge fund executive before she became Governor).
This delay offers state officials time to stabilize public schools in Providence and elsewhere, where charters have flocked and removed students and funding.
Linda Borg of the Providence Journal reports:
Sen. Ryan Pearson has seen Cumberland, one of his districts, lose a significant number of traditional public school students to charter schools.
He argued that the latest charter expansion would have a devastating financial impact on the sending districts, as much as $92 million in lost tuition. The funding or per pupil expenditure “follows” the student from his or her original district to the charter school.
“Two weeks ago,” Ryan said, “I asked Providence for a plan” to explain how the district would make up for an estimated $80-plus million in lost tuition. “Fourteen days later, that plan has not arrived.”
School choice, he and others said, costs money.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
So many states are starting to see the costly and devastating impact from years of privatization. School buildings get neglected, and larger classes with fewer resources become the norm in pubic schools. Privatization is a costly mistake that does not improve outcomes for students. It merely robs Peter to pay Paul as it loots the public schools to transfer public money to private companies.
Without a pro-privatization superintendent Rhode Island can take time assess the damages. The only way to stop the bleeding of public dollars from privatization is to change leadership in school districts and/or state legislatures. Communities should choose leadership from those that support well resourced public schools. It is the most efficient way to provide accountable, stable, competent public education.
I would guess the damage is even more obvious because of the pandemic. Public schools that have been looted for years are even more unlikely to be able to make public schools safe for kids to return to school. I hope they do a full audit of the damage they have wrought by allowing private pillage of a public resource. What happened to the claim of being able to run a quality program for less money? Who in their right mind thinks hedge funds are interested in anything but turning a profit?